Synthesis and properties of magnetite Fe3O4 via a simple hydrothermal route

Magnetic Fe3O4 crystals were synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method using K4Fe(CN)6 as single precursor. The chemical compositions and morphologies of the as-prepared samples were characterized in detail by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimental results show that the magnetic Fe3O4 particles are facilely prepared by the hydrothermal reaction of K4Fe(CN)6 and NaOH at 200 °C. Regular octahedral Fe3O4 crystals are obtained when Na2S2O3 is added to the reaction system. The possible mechanism was discussed to elucidate the formation of the magnetic Fe3O4 crystals. Besides, the magnetic investigations show that the values of saturation magnetization and coercivity of octahedral Fe3O4 are about 87 emu/g and 184 Oe, respectively. Octahedral Fe3O4 also exhibits relatively good catalytic performance in the oxidation of styrene.

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